https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=9537
Salutations!
This week is National School Counseling Week, so be sure to give a thank you, pat on the back, or fist bump to our fabulous school counselor, Mr. Matt.
And give yourselves a pat on the back for some nice feedback I had on a school choice tour last week. One parent, who’s also a teacher here in 4J with a potential incoming kindergartner, told me Howard was the first school he’s toured where he saw actual instruction happening, as well as Howard being the calmest most orderly environment, and was the school he and his wife were most comfortable with. He also like how many kids came up to give me hugs and high fives during the tour. So good job, everyone. Folks do see that Howard really does stand out as a great school. Y’all are a bunch of rock stars!
Eighteen items of note for this week:
• New Report Cards Items – Report Cards go home this Friday and here are two new RC related items:
• Withdrawn Students – If you have had a student withdraw in the last two weeks and are willing to create a report card, you have the ability to do so by selecting “inactive students” under options in the report card section.
• Notify Lori When Finished – Please let Lori know once your report cards are complete so she can load them to the student records section of Synergy.
• Library News! – News from Ms. Hopkins!
OBOB games start this week! They will be running from 12:40 to approx 1:40 give or take :). The kids are excited, nervous and anxious to show what they know about the books. Please encourage good sportsman ship and behavior Mrs. Connor and Mrs. Ing will be running our games for us. The students are to come to the library quietly a few minutes before their battle. I will send them back to class as soon as we finished up their games. Thank you for supporting our OBOB kids! There will be OBOB lunches on Tuesday in the community room.
Game #1, 12:45 – story cove
The Watermelons #2 vs. The Purrfect Fursona’s #5Game #2, 1:05– story cove
The Purrmaid Detectives #4 vs. The Tentacle Kitties & Sloth #8Game #3, 1:30 – story cove
The Rad Readers #1 vs. The Time Travelers # 7Game #4, 1:50 – story cove
The Galaxy Pandas #6 vs. The Double Duos #3Other fun library news, our circulation this year so far is 9,950 books! Last year was 7,240. Thank you everyone for support our school library!
• Friday Early Release PD – This Friday’s Early Release PD is designated as a PLC work session, but licensed staff will instead use this time for our final vote on our revised Leadership Plan. See the linked Leadership Plan Proposals and come prepared to discuss and vote on a plan.
• OBOB Final Battle & Awards Assembly, 2/14 – Linked here is the OBOB Final Battle & Awards Assembly Map & Directions for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes, which will be next week on Wednesday, February 14th, 8:40-9:10 in the gym.
• Journeys Print Orders – Downtown has given us additional funds for copying Journeys materials, so if teachers are sending print orders to Instaprint, please note “Journeys” on the order form so that Lori can charge it to the correct account.
• Perfect Attendance Awards – If any teachers would like me to recognize your students with perfect attendance for first semester (no tardies or absences) or near-perfect attendance, let me know and I can give a 30-second award presentation to perfect attenders in your classroom. Just give me a date and time to come in and I can make a big deal about regular attendance. Attached in my email is a list of all the students with perfect attendance first semester. Also, if you know of any kids with “near perfect” attendance who you’d like to recognize, let me know and I can award them as well. I’ll plan to do the same at the end of the school year for perfect second semester attendance and for students with perfect attendance all year.
• Security Cameras Coming – 4J received a grant so that all elementary schools will get security cameras in their gym, cafeteria, front entry, and student drop off areas. Howard is slated to get our cameras sometime in the next couple weeks and our plan is to have the monitors in the office records room.
• No Umbrellas at Recess – Students are not allowed to bring umbrellas to recess. I’ve had a number of students ask, so please let them know if it’s raining hard we’ll do indoor recess and if we do go out in drizzle but they want to stay out of the rain, they can do under the covered play area.
• February PBIS Focus: Cooperation – The February PBIS monthly focus is “Cooperation.” The PBIS team created a PBIS/CSC Cheat Sheet that matches our monthly PBIS themes with corresponding Caring School Community class meeting lessons, which is a nice way to tie the two activities together.
• Howard Ave. Improvements – Sarah Mazze, the Safe Routes to School Program Manager, emailed me the county has chosen Howard Ave. for their traffic calming program pilot. Their plan is to install traffic calming similar to what’s on North Park along Howard Ave. the summer of 2021, so it’s a ways off and I’m asking if we can get speed bumps that go across the entire road and are not like those on North Park, since I see people not slowing down and swerving around those. See the above link for details.
• REPEAT: 2020-2021 Staff Survey, Due Feb. 14th – Principals will receive staffing allocation February 19th, so to help me in planning potential staffing scenarios for next year, I’d like staff to complete the linked 2020-2021 Staffing Survey (preferred) or the linked file (PDF or DOC). Please complete the survey by Friday, February 14th. All answers will be kept confidential and let me know if you have any questions.
• 4J Office of Equity – Calendar of Events – Folks may not be aware, but there is a 4J Office of Equity Calendar of Events on the 4J website I thought I would highlight. There’s also the 4J Office of Equity Smore that’s regularly emailed to all staff.
• UO’s Women in Flight Festival – Feel free to share this with your students. The goal of Women in Flight is to raise awareness and financial support across all UO’s Women Sports Programs. They are hosting a FREE festival for National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Saturday, February 8th and they would love for kids to join!
Program Details:
WHO: Girls & Boys under the ages of 13!
WHAT: Women In Flight’s National Girls & Women in Sports Day Festival
WHEN: Saturday, February 8th from 3:00-6:00pm
WHERE: University of Oregon’s Moshofsky Center (Next to Autzen Football Stadium)
PRICE: FREE Community Event!
REGISTRATION: Click Here!• Statistics in Schools Program for 2020 Census – The Census Bureau has a free educational program called Statistics in Schools (SIS) that teaches children in a fun and informative way why the census is important. During SIS week (March 2-6, 2020), we’ll send home a take-home letter and teachers are encouraged to do one of the many activities you can access on the above link. See that link or the linked flyer for more details.
• Dollar General Youth Literacy Grants – Dollar General will soon offer teacher literacy mini-grants for:
• Implementing new or expanding existing literacy programs
• Purchasing new technology or equipment to support literacy initiatives
• Purchasing books, materials or software for literacy programsThey are currently offering grants for School Libraries, Family Literacy Grants, and Summer Reading programs. See the above link for details.
• Creating Compassionate Kids Workshop – Childcare workers, teachers, and parents: join author and educator Shauna Tominey at the Eugene Public Library this Saturday, 1:00-3:00 to learn tools and strategies to help children practice emotional intelligence at home, school, and in the community. See the above link for details.
• Teaching Presidents’ Day In a Socially Conscious Way – When Presidents’ Day rolls around, it’s easy to reach for a standby lesson plan on Abe Lincoln’s log cabin. But the holiday also presents an opportunity to go deeper and examine the traditional narratives surrounding past presidents. We know that presidents were not infallible historical characters, so see this WeAreTeachers Article for some ways to keep it more honest for our students.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events for the next two weeks:
February 3 (M)
National School Counseling Week
Second Semester Begins
8:30, Allan Meeting w/Rob Hess (Office)
12:40-2:25, OBOB Battles #1 (Library)
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elementary Principal Meeting (Ed Center)February 4 (T)
2:45-3:30, PBIS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, RM25)February 5 (W)
Walk+Roll to School Day
8:30, Allan Meeting w/Meet w/Emerald Park Superintendent (Office)
2:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Conference Room)February 6 (H)
9:00, January Book Winners (Conference Room)February 7 (F)
Popcorn Friday!
Report Cards Sent Home
9:30-1:00, KG Hearing Screenings (STEAM Room)
1:30-2:00, EA Supervisors’ Meeting (Title 1 Room, RM26)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – PLC & Leadership Plan Vote (Library)February 10 (M)
12:40-2:25, OBOB Battles #2 (Library)February 11 (T)
BJ Blake Covering for Allan
9:00-10:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, RM26)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)February 12 (W)
8:40, OBOB Battles – Semi Finals (Library)
11:10-2:30, Data Team Meetings (Conference Room)Kinder 11:10-12:10
3rd Grade 12:20-1:20
5th Grade 1:30-2:302:45-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)
February 13 (H)
8:10-8:55, BSU Meeting (STEAM Room)
8:10-11:55, Data Team Meetings (Conference Room)2nd Grade 8:10-9:10
1st Grade 9:30-10:30
4th Grade 10:55-11:552:30-3:30, 5th Grade ODS Teacher Planning Meeting
5:00-6:00, Outdoor School Parent Meeting (Library)February 14 (F)
Valentine’s Day
Oregon’s Birthday
8:40-9:10, OBOB Finals – Grade 3-5 Assembly (Gym)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – Behavior Framework (Library)February 17 (M)
No School – Presidents Day
And if you missed it, some Howard kiddos at the YMCA were featured in the Register Guard last week.
Have a good week, everyone!
Allan
